How do i change or remove administrator password and setup when i don't know the original password?

i recievrd this free comp from friend of friend anyway i can not get to start page until i give password any ideas to help? cannot get to anything but i tryed changing password but it still goes back to the last persons name as administer and asking for password i guess it once was owned by small comp. maybe that is why i cannot change it as sum other form of password for company comp. it is a older dell xp 2000.|||There are programs that can crack a password in the Windows registry, but it's also possible you have a password in both Windows and possibly in your computer's BIOS settings. We just don't know.





You might want to get into your BIOS and just check to see if they have a password in there for Admin or User and see if it might be the same for your Windows login.





Usually on a Dell you press the F12 key after you turn on your computer. If that key doesn't work, reboot and try F8 and if not that try the F2 key.





Do a search for your make and model as you can probably find a good message forum or other information to help you here.





Your best solution though, as already mentioned, is to reformat the hard drive and then install XP from your CD and start out fresh.





Your computer will probably run faster and remove a lot of junk and maybe some other password protected areas too.





Good Luck!|||try getting your hand on a windows xp or windows 2000 disk. then reformat it and re-install both software and drivers. or you can do a search engine on removing administrator password. there are disk out there for removing admin password. but its going to cost you.|||try and click "cancel" when asking for password?





or when you turn your computer on, before windows logo appears, press F8 on your keyboard and you'll be able to load windows in safe mode.





OR reinstall windows - it's a relatively cheap price to pay to get a new comp ;)